Winding Road
by mosxyo
Summary: The chase was fun, but learning to be together was going to serve to be an even greater adventure than they could have ever expected. S S, post 2nd movie. WIP, ch 2 up soon


It's been forever since I've completed a fanfiction with multiple chapters. Well, I've graduated from high school and I'm now well on my way to finishing college and it's about time I try and start something and FINISH it. The last time I finished a story was JUNIOR HIGH. And now I'm a JUNIOR in college. Time to become that real author now and stop writing all the fluff that I have been writing.

The song that will appear periodically throughout the story is called _Winter Light_. I can't find who wrote the song, but both Linda Rondstadt and Sarah Brightman have preformed it. Very good song, I've found many sources of inspiration from it in the past.

Enough of me, eh? :P

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_Hearts call  
Hearts fall  
Swallowed in the rain_

Syaoran held Sakura close to him, his feet padding down the many stairs to the bottom floor. After Sakura had jumped into his arms, she had fallen asleep much to Syaoran's surprise. He had been holding her tightly and before he knew it her eyes drooped shut and her breathing had slowed to that of an unconscious state.

He was almost to the bottom now after carrying her the entire way. He had felt weak from the battle with VOID and did not know how he had mustered the energy to carry the slumbering Sakura to the bottom. There was one more flight of stairs and he stopped, readjusting her in his arms. One hand was placed under her bent knees, the other tucked securely under her shoulders, his hand holding onto her head and cradling it close to his chest.

Taking a heavy sigh, he continued to take each step carefully down to reach the bottom. Syaoran did not know what to expect when he reached the bottom. The sleepy town of Tomoeda had gone back to normal; all the missing pieces would be replaced. And most importantly, the feelings that he held inside his heart for the girl that had clung to him had been replaced. Though they had only been gone a few moments, Syaoran felt emptier than he had ever felt before. Since falling in love with Sakura his life had found more meaning and loosing her made his blood cold – he felt empty. As his brain thought about those moments, he could not come up with any thoughts to compare to how it felt. He knew that he never wanted to feel that way ever again.

Sakura stirred a little bit in his arms as he stepped out of the tower and sun began to crawl across her face. At first her eyelids shut tightly, causing a slight wrinkle on them. After growing accustomed to the warmth of the rising sun, her eyes started to open, her pupils glazed over as they lazily fell on Syaoran, who still held her close to him. "Syaoran-kun…" Sakura's voice was weak, but her smile was broad. Her eyes closed again as her body brought her back to sleep. He smiled down at her, readjusting her in his arms to take a lock of her hair and place it off to the side so it would not bother her while sleeping.

"Shhh," He mumbled as he brought his lips to her forehead. He felt his cheeks blush after he realized what he had done. Certainly she would not have minded, would she?

His own legs were starting to give out under him, his body demanding a rest from him. His mind though was more determined to get Sakura to a safe place to sleep. Though he thought that there was no place safer than his embrace, he wanted her in a warm bed to recuperate her strength. After this incident, he felt, she would need more rest than ever before. Though she had grown to be a powerful sorceress in her own right, she was still only twelve years old and had the body of one. All the magic now drawing from her life was bound to make her a little more sleepy than usual.

On the horizon he saw the exit of the theme park. He was almost there. Just a few more steps and he would be out of here.

He fell to his knees and his own eyelids began to shut…_Protect Sakura…_his brain mused as he placed her gently in the patch of grass and fell beside her, his arms still wrapped tightly around her frame.

It was Tomoyo who had found them asleep together in the amusement park. Her video camera was notably absent as she had forgotten it in her deep concern over her friends. After being flown over the fence by Kerberos, they took separate routes to search for the pair. Tomoyo had spotted them right away and called the Guardian Beast over for help. There was no way that Tomoyo would be any help to either of them on her own, for she could not carry either.

"How splendid…I hope Sakura-chan was able to share her feelings," She smiled as she watched Kerberos kneel before the pair. She helped Sakura onto his back, and then she helped Syaoran. Syaoran was lightly sleeping when he was pushed onto the back of the Guardian. The slight movement awakened him abruptly. He looked around, wide eyed and panicked.

"Where's Sakura?" He blurted out before realizing she was laying down already on Kerberos.

"She's right there, silly," Tomoyo smiled and pointed in front of him. Syaoran looked down in front of him and found his cheeks begin to rise in color. Some protector he turned out to be if she had been in front of him and he didn't even realize it. "Kero-chan, can you take all three of us to my house?" Tomoyo placed her small hand on his neck and scratched it.

Kerberos started to purr and shut his eyes. "Of course I can, I am no weak!" Tomoyo gave him one last pet as she jumped on behind Syaoran.

"Make sure to hold onto her so she does not fall off!" Tomoyo told Syaoran, who was just now starting to become fully awake.

"I will," Syaoran said, pulling Sakura up to a sitting position. He wrapped his left arm around her middle and held on with his right. Tomoyo placed both of her hands on his hips and they were now being taken away to Tomoyo's home. Syaoran did not question their destination. He knew that Sakura felt at home there and it was the closer than Sakura's home. They would also be able to avoid questions there and be able to get the rest they needed.

Kerberos touched down gracefully and let his three passengers off his back before returning to his normal form. Now pocket-sized, Kero hovered around Tomoyo as Syaoran picked up the girl in pink and followed Tomoyo inside her estate.

Tomoyo led them to a room next to her own that Sakura would typically use if she was spending the night. The walls were painted – the bottom half was a light pink and the top half was white with a green boarder separating the two colors. Tomoyo pulled down the light summer sheets down from the bed and Syaoran took her lead by placing her down on the bed.

"Li-kun, I'm going to change Sakura-chan out of these clothes," Tomoyo smiled and winked.

"What?" Syaoran blinked, not understanding what she had wanted from him.

"Li-kun, maybe you should leave while I take Sakura-chan's clothes off!" Tomoyo said in her ever-innocent voice.

The color returned to his cheeks and he stammered and apologized to her.

Syaoran let himself out of the room and shut the door behind him. Not knowing where to go from here, he let himself fall against the wall next to the room Sakura was currently in. He shut his eyes tight and replayed the previous night's activities. It was starting to feel like it had been a lifetime ago since they were on stage in the play that Naoko had written. He played that memory over in his brain, remembering how beautiful Sakura had looked in the dress. He made a mental note to tell her that when they had a moment together.

Besides that, he had so many more things he was dying to tell her now that he had her response. Like how happy she made him. Like how beautiful she was no matter what she wore. Like how he somehow started to feel whole again in her company.

Tomoyo disrupted his thoughts when she exited the room and shut the door. He opened his eyes and looked at her, wondering if she knew what to do from here.

"Sakura-chan is sleeping now, would Li-kun like something to eat?" He had not thought about it until now, but his stomach was rather empty and a beagle and cream cheese did seem somewhat appealing now. And of course a hot cup of tea. Or maybe even a piping hot cup of coffee.

"Uh-sure, that would be great," Syaoran nodded his head and followed Tomoyo back down the stairs, wondering when he would run into her mother and start the parade of questions about everything. Or coming across Meilin and be tagged teamed by her and Tomoyo about what had happened since everyone was put to sleep. "Where's your mother?" Syaoran asked after not seeing her as they made the final paces across the living room and into the kitchen. "And Meilin?" Syaoran had not seen hide nor hair of his cousin and it was starting to slightly worry him.

"I told my mother the basics of what happened and told her you were safe. I was thinking that maybe Sakura-chan would erase everyone's memories later, is that alright?" Tomoyo placed both her hands on the kitchen's island and smiled at him, hoping for his approval. "As for Meilin, she thought it was best to keep out of your hair for right now as she thought that Sakura had finally confessed to you," Tomoyo frowned as she remembered Meilin's eyes the last time she saw them. She had not shed a single tear over Syaoran since the night she had shown up on her front porch mourning the end of her engagement, but this morning Tomoyo could have sworn she saw a small tear slip out of her eye and onto her cheek.

Syaoran nodded.

"Uh-That would probably make things a lot easier on everyone. Won't her father be worried right now though?" Sakura's father let his daughter do as she pleased, but he would no doubt want to see her after such a traumatic event had taken place.

"I talked with Kinomoto-san also and told him that she would be my patient and I would take splendid care of her," Tomoyo's eyes shone a little bit, the same glisten they would often take at the prospect of filming Sakura or fitting Sakura for a new costume.

Syaoran shook his head and seated himself at the bar that looked out into the gourmet kitchen. His head was still racing with the thought of what he would say when Sakura would wake up. Syaoran also pondered how long she would sleep this one off.

"Tomoyo-chan, I'm hungry!" Kero plopped himself down next to Tomoyo and patted his small belly. "Can I have some cake?" Stars replaced his eyes as he peered up at Tomoyo. She giggled and looked at the kitchen clock and saw that it was only 6:30am, a little early for cake eating.

"Yes, yes, you may eat cake," Tomoyo hurried and began attending to her two guests. Syaoran hardly noticed when a cup of steaming tea was poured in front of him. Syaoran didn't even know how a perfect place of pancakes with two strawberry eyes, and a bacon-mouth smiling up at him appeared in front of him, but he ate it joyfully. He took small sips of tea to wash it down with and his mind once again traveled to Sakura, upstairs, safe in her bed.

"Thank you, Daidouji," Sayoran cleared his throat and gave her a smile.

"It is always my pleasure, Did Sakura-chan by any chance manage to respond to your feelings?" Syaoran couldn't help but grin and reach behind himself to scratch his neck.

"Ah, she did," Despite how Tomoyo and his own cousin Meilin had helped bring him and Sakura together, he felt as though he wanted to keep some things private, or at least wait until Sakura was awake to discuss the situation with him.

"It is such a shame I did not catch it on video…" Tomoyo said regretfully, patting Kero's now full belly and taking his plate away and placing it in the sink to be washed at a latter date. Syaoran felt a sigh of relief when Tomoyo did not press further into what had happened.

"Heh," Syaoran mouthed, another blush attempting to creep onto his cheeks. He tried to keep it in check, but soon succumbed to the blood rush. "Now I don't really know what to do," he started talking. Tomoyo was a very knowledgeable person and always had Sakura's best interests at heart. Syaoran often found through emailing her while he was in Hong Kong helped his heart a great deal in getting through the separation with Sakura and the pain of not knowing if she felt the same way about him. She could always be counted on to give wonderful advice.

"Did Sakura-chan tell you she loved you?" Tomoyo had finished attending to Kero and was now sitting next to Syaoran on the stool. She watched as he pushed around the last bit of his bacon in the syrup.

"She did," Syaoran grinned down at his piece of bacon, unable to control his happiness now that he knew for certain how she felt about him. "But Daido-"

"Call me Tomoyo-chan, please,"

"Mmm, To-Tomoyo, what happens from here?" Syaoran looked up at her, his eyes searching for the right answer from her.

"It is simple Li-kun," She turned and faced him and took his hands in her in a friendly embrace. "You love her the best that you can," There was not a single doubt in his mind that he would do just that for Sakura. "Sakura-chan loves you Li-kun, and you two will both learn what it means to love someone and have them love you in return. And I will be there along the way to document your successes and failures! For future reference, of course," She winked at him after her last two sentences and let go of his hands.

"I do love her…" He mumbled to no one in particular. He cut the piece of bacon in half with his fork and started to munch down on the last bit of breakfast.

Syaoran later found himself ushered into Sakura's room by Tomoyo after their small chat. "I will check on you in a little while," Tomoyo said before shutting the door and leaving the two alone.

Sakura was still asleep, but had managed to turn herself over on her side in the thirty minutes or so that had passed. Had it been only half an hour? Time seemed to have been warped for Syaoran. Certain events seemed to be happening quicker than others. It must have been his lack of sleep and his brain's way of telling him it was time to get some rest.

Tomoyo had placed a shirt and pants for him on the rocking chair that was next to the bed. He noticed them and took them into the bathroom and changed out of his outfit. He folded the clothes the best he could and returned to the room ready to relax. The Sun was now all the way up in the sky, which was starting to irritate his eyes. Syaoran attempted to douse the lights by pulling the two sets of curtains across the window. It helped the room just enough for him to not become blinded.

Her breath was slow. She was in a deep sleep now. Syaoran lifted the sheets up from the other side of the bed and crawled in next to her. The expression she had had not been one he had seen before. Syaoran guessed there were still many things he had yet to find out about her; he swore that he would know all he could about her and love her more than any other person could.

Closing his eyes, Syaoran succumbed to the dream world.

Outside the window, the clouds rolled in and a light summer storm blew through Tomoeda, giving the city a fresh start and all the plants a nice long drink of water.

:o lol


End file.
